The invention relates to a method and system for the automated testing and/or measuring of a plurality of substantially identical components using X-ray radiation.
Such systems are used for example for automatic serial testing of castings, the system being connected into the manufacturer's production line (inline testing). With known systems of this type the X-ray source and detector are arranged on a multiaxial manipulator, wherein by means of simple radiography, X-ray images of the test object are recorded and evaluated. However, the projection of the volume of the tested component onto the X-ray image allows only limited conclusions to be drawn as to the internal structure of the component.
To obtain precise information about the three-dimensional internal structure of components, it is known to laboratory test individual components by means of high resolution microtomography systems. X-ray tube and detector are mounted on a fixed support so as to be adjustable about a plurality of translational axes and the component is rotated about a vertical axis by means of a rotary table. Such systems are not suitable for automatic serial inline testing of components, in particular because the long period of time required for handling and high resolution investigation of a component is incompatible with the cycle times in a production line.